recapvsrecastConfusable pair

Which to use

“recap” and “recast” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,106
“recap” frequency rank
#31,310
“recast” frequency rank
47416
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature recap recast
Definition To seal (something) again with a cap. To cast or throw again.

Where the eye mixes recap and recast

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. recap runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against recast's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
recap
6 ch
recast

Visual trap between recap and recast

A purely visual mix-up. recap (/ɹiːˈkæp/) and recast (/ɹiːˈkɑːst/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47416, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

recap is recorded at frequency rank #16,106, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹiːˈkæp/. recast is at rank #31,310, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɹiːˈkɑːst/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 47416, this pair ranks #202,670 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of recap vs recast

Shared letters: acer. Private to "recap": p. Private to "recast": st.

"recap" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "recast" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • recap ← ercap · rceap · reacp · recapp · reccap · recpa · rrecap
  • recast ← ercast · rceast · recasst · recastt · reccast · recsat · rrecast

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "recap" for "recast" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ɹiːˈkæp/ versus /ɹiːˈkɑːst/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "recap" vs "recast" - which ranks higher?
"recap" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,106 in our English list, against #31,310 for "recast". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "recap" and "recast" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "recap" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "recast" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #202,670 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "recap" and "recast" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rebar vs recap". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #202,670 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list